The Laws of Ur-Nammu: The Oldest Known Legal Code in Human History
- Sara Santos-Vigneault
- Apr 12, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 4
Written by: Sara Santos-Vigneault
Date: April 12, 2025+
Long before the Code of Hammurabi, one of the earliest known attempts to record law in written form emerged in ancient Mesopotamia.
The Laws of Ur-Nammu are generally regarded by historians as the oldest surviving legal code, dating to approximately 2100 BCE.
Issued during the reign of King Ur-Nammu of the Sumerian city of Ur, the code provides rare insight into how early societies understood justice, responsibility, and social order. [1][2]
Contrary to modern assumptions about early law being harsh or purely punitive, the surviving provisions reveal a structured legal system that often relied on financial compensation rather than physical punishment. These laws reflect an early effort to regulate behaviour in a predictable and publicly accessible way, emphasizing stability and restitution over retaliation. [3]
Historical Context and Authorship
The Laws of Ur-Nammu originated during the Ur III period, a time marked by political centralization, urban development, and increasing administrative sophistication in southern Mesopotamia. Ur-Nammu ruled from approximately 2112 to 2095 BCE and is traditionally credited with issuing the code. Some scholars, however, suggest that portions of the text may have been compiled or finalized under his son and successor, Šulgi, who is known for expanding bureaucratic reforms and promoting literacy. [1][3]
The broader historical context helps explain the emergence of written law. As cities grew and economic activity became more complex, standardized rules were necessary to resolve disputes, protect property, and reinforce royal authority. Written legal codes also served a symbolic purpose, presenting the ruler as a guarantor of justice under divine authority. [4]
Discovery and Surviving Texts
The Laws of Ur-Nammu do not survive in a single complete document. Instead, the text is reconstructed from fragments discovered at several Mesopotamian sites, including Nippur and Ur. These fragments are written in Sumerian using cuneiform script and were inscribed on clay tablets and cylinders. [1][5]
One of the most significant surviving artifacts is a clay cylinder held in the Schøyen Collection in Oslo, catalogued as MS 2064. Additional fragments are housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums and other institutional collections. Together, these materials allow scholars to reconstruct much of the original code, though portions remain lost. [5][6]
Structure and Legal Content
Like later Mesopotamian law codes, the Laws of Ur-Nammu appear to have followed a formal structure consisting of a prologue, a series of legal provisions, and a concluding section that has not survived. Each law typically begins with the conditional phrase tukum-bi (“if”), followed by a specified legal consequence. This “if–then” format would become a defining feature of later legal writing in the region. [3]
Approximately forty provisions survive today, with scholars estimating that the full code may originally have included more than fifty. The laws address a broad range of everyday matters, including homicide, bodily injury, sexual offences, marriage, divorce, inheritance, property disputes, theft, and false accusations. [1][3]
A notable feature of the code is its preference for monetary compensation in cases of injury or wrongdoing. While serious offences such as murder could still attract capital punishment, many other violations resulted in fines payable in silver. This approach suggests an early form of restorative justice aimed at compensating victims and maintaining social equilibrium. [2][3]
Legacy and Legal Significance
The Laws of Ur-Nammu occupy a foundational place in legal history. They represent one of the earliest known efforts to formalize law as a public institution, rather than relying solely on custom or ad hoc decision-making. Later Mesopotamian legal collections, including those associated with Eshnunna, Lipit-Ishtar, and Hammurabi, followed similar structural and conceptual models. [3][4]
Beyond their historical priority, the laws are significant for what they reveal about early legal thinking. They reflect a society already grappling with questions of responsibility, proportionality, and fairness — concerns that continue to shape legal systems thousands of years later. The survival of these texts underscores how deeply rooted the idea of written law is in human civilization. [1][2]
References
Civil, Miguel. The Law Collection of Ur-Namma. In Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection, edited by Andrew R. George, pp. 221–286. CDL Press, 2011.
Mark, Joshua J. “Code of Ur-Nammu.” World History Encyclopedia, October 26, 2021.
Roth, Martha T. Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Scholars Press, 1997.
Wilcke, Claus. Der Kodex Urnamma. München: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2002.
Schøyen Collection. “Ur-Nammu Law Code (MS 2064).”
https://www.schoyencollection.com/law/sumerian/ur-nammu-ms-2064
Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). “Ur-Nammu Law Code Tablet Fragments and Transliterations.”
https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P278740
Excellent journal. I really liked the restorative justice element to the first recorded legal code. It shows a maturity that is lacking in further societies. Perhaps this has to do with the sense of fairness? It seems like this earlier society was closer to our natural roots. I find it also interesting that to bare false witness is a named crime. I wonder what those missing laws could have been.